1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to armor.
2. Description of Related Art
In combat situations, such as in military, police, and/or armored transport operations, it is desirable to protect vehicles, such as tanks, personnel carriers, trucks, and the like, as well as the vehicle's contents from damage by enemy fire. Accordingly, such vehicles are known to have armor to reduce the likelihood that ballistic rounds or other such projectiles will penetrate the vehicle. If the rounds penetrate the vehicle, the occupants of the vehicle may be injured or the vehicle's ability to operate may be impaired. It may also be desirable for the armor to be able to survive multiple rounds striking the armor in close proximity to one another, so that the integrity of the vehicle is not compromised or is only minimally compromised. Moreover, it is generally desirable for armor to include a relatively hard outer layer that the round encounters first. The hard outer layer starts the projectile or round defeat sequence by increasing the projectile dwell time on the armor, thus slowing the projectile down, or by blunting or fracturing the projectile early in the penetration event.
While protecting the vehicle and its occupants is generally of primary importance, other factors may play a role in the design of armor for the vehicle. It is desirable for the vehicle to be as lightweight as possible. Generally, a vehicle's fuel consumption increases as the vehicle's weight increases. A heavier vehicle usually requires a heavier drive train than a lighter vehicle, which further increases weight. Increased weight may also reduce the mobility of the vehicle and, thus, reduce the utility of the vehicle in combat. As the weight of the vehicle's armor contributes to the overall weight of the vehicle, it is desirable for the vehicle's armor to be as lightweight as possible. Many known armor systems, while protecting the vehicle from ballistic damage, add significant weight to the vehicle and provide little or no additional structural strength to the vehicle.
It is also not desirable for the vehicle's armor to greatly increase the overall size of the vehicle (e.g., the vehicle's height, width, length, volume, and the like), so that existing transportation equipment (e.g., trucks, trailers, aircraft, and the like) are capable of transporting the vehicle. If the size of the vehicle is increased over previous vehicles, the existing transportation equipment may not be capable of transporting the vehicle, or the existing transportation equipment may be limited to carrying fewer vehicles per load. Additionally, it is desirable to maximize the internal volume of the vehicle to allow adequate space to house the crew and crew gear. Accordingly, armor having lower volumes generally result in vehicle designs having larger internal volumes. The overall size of the vehicle is also a factor in combat situations. Generally, smaller targets (i.e., smaller vehicles) are more difficult to hit with artillery, such as rockets, mortars, missiles, and the like. Thus, it is desirable for the vehicle's overall size to be smaller, rather than larger, to reduce the likelihood of an artillery hit.
It is also desirable that the vehicle's armor be durable. During combat and during travel between combat locations, the vehicle may encounter flying rocks, debris, shrapnel, and the like. If the armor is overly thin or brittle, it may not be capable of surviving impacts from such sources.
Cost is also a consideration in vehicle armor. Armor that uses exotic materials (e.g., laminated ceramics of boron carbide, silicon carbide, alumina, and the like), or armor that has many components in difficult-to-produce configurations, may be quite effective in combat but may be unaffordable.
There are many designs of materials that are useful as armors and that are well known in the art; however, considerable shortcomings remain.